The Kiel Mutiny: An Attempt to End WWI?

By 1918, after more than three years of hellish fighting, troops on both sides of the First World War were tired and demoralized. What everyone thought would be a short war turned out to be a static stalemate with no end in sight. Millions had died, an unprecedented casualty rate for the time, and soldiers began to question the worth of their own sacrifices.

Angry at their leaders, the time was right for mutiny and revolution. In Germany, this materialized as the Kiel Mutiny, leading to a series of actions designed to remove the Kaiser from power and end the bloody war that had destroyed all semblance of a brighter future for Europe.

By September 1918, the Entente and the Central Powers were exhausted by the war. Soldiers and sailors were angry and tired, and the time was right for a revolution. Indeed, revolution had already occurred in Russia, and it had spurred the soldiers in Germany to take matters into their own hands and push for a change of government.

The Kaiser was pressured to make changes to the government and steer Germany towards a more democratic system of governance. Seeking a ceasefire with the Entente, the Kaiser appointed Prince Maximilian von Baden as the new chancellor, and the government came under the prime influence of the Social Democrats (SDP), with Philipp Scheidemann as the most influential leader in the new government.

Meanwhile, in the navy, sailors were demoralized by lack of action. In 1916, the Imperial German Navy had been defeated at Jutland, and with British naval supremacy, much of the German fleet was kept in the harbors, out of action. U-boats continued to operate, however, and many sailors requested transfers to these squadrons. To make matters worse, Germany’s economic situation was suffering from naval blockades, and as a result, food and fertilizer were in short supply. This meant that many soldiers and sailors had to make do with reduced rations.

One of the most important centers for this lack of morale was the port of Kiel, which represented one of Germany’s naval hubs. It was here that mutinous sentiment would take hold and spread throughout the rest of the country.

The mutiny in Kiel was not the first incident to result from the low morale and lack of discipline. On August 2, 1917, 350 sailors staged a demonstration as part of a wider hunger strike that involved 800 crew members from the dreadnought Prinzregent Luitpold refusing to eat until the quality and quantity of food rations were improved. A commission was set up to address the concerns of the sailors, but two of the ringleaders were sentenced to death, while around 75 others were imprisoned.

Before he was executed by firing squad in Cologne, Albin Kobis declared, “I die with a curse on the German-militarist state!” Willy Weber, the other ringleader sentenced to death, escaped execution when his sentence was reduced to 15 years in prison. On recounting the events, he explained, “Nobody wanted a revolution, we just wanted to be treated more like human beings.”

In October, even as an armistice was being discussed, the German command began preparing for one last major engagement. When word reached the enlisted men, thousands became furious, as they saw it as an attempt to scupper the chance at an armistice and an end to the war.

They also saw it as an attempt by the German admiralty to regain prestige at the expense of the common sailors’ lives that would be lost to the icy waters of the North Sea. With peace around the corner, the attempt to throw men into combat was met with anger and resentment.

In the hopes of quelling the insurrection within the fleet, Admiral Hipper ordered the operation to be canceled and then ordered the fleet to disperse. Much of the insurrection had not spread to the smaller ships, including the U-boats, but was widespread among the larger ships, including the dreadnoughts, of which Germany had 18. When several of the ships arrived back in Kiel, the insurrectionists influenced others in the port, and Germany’s discipline problem got even worse.

Mutinous sailors were not just confined to one port. To the west, Wilhelmshaven also became a center of activity as it was there that the High Seas Fleet was anchored and thus a major population hub for angry German sailors.

Inspired by the success of socialism in Russia, the German sailors, distrusting of their officers, realized that their combined strength through revolutionary action could shift the balance of power.

On the German mainland, the mutinies started on October 28 in the port town of Wilhelmshaven, where several German ships had been ordered to dock. Mutinous soldiers refused to follow orders. Hundreds of their comrades had been imprisoned for doing so, and hundreds more rose up against their superiors in defiance. On two of the ships, mutiny and sabotage were committed, but when nearby torpedo boats turned their guns on these ships, the mutineers surrendered.

The Third Squadron, under the command of Vice Admiral Hugo Kraft, sailed towards Kiel. Insurrection had been dealt with, and around 200 mutinous sailors had been imprisoned. As the ships sailed without too much incident thereafter, Kraft assumed that the situation was under control. However, when the fleet arrived in Kiel, it became clear that the situation was ongoing. Sailors refused to follow orders and tried to prevent the fleet from leaving port again.

On November 1, around 250 insurrectionists met in the Union House in Kiel. Here, they discussed further developments and agreed upon a plan of action to have their imprisoned fellows released. They tried appealing to their officers, but they were refused any opportunity for negotiation. Upon being brushed off by their officers, the insurrectionists widened their plans beyond that of the navy.

They spread the word among the workers’ unions in Kiel. As the situation developed, city authorities ordered the closure of the city’s union buildings, but this made the problem even worse. A meeting subsequently took place in open air, and news of what was happening thus spread even faster.

Taking the lead in the uprising were a sailor named Karl Artelt and a shipyard worker, Lothar Popp. They were both members of the Independent Social Democratic Party, an institution closely linked to the struggle of the working classes in Germany. They called for another, larger open-air meeting in Kiel, preceded by the slogan “Peace and Bread!” turning what was a sailor’s mutiny into a wider rebellion of the working class. Their movement was joined by thousands of industrial workers who downed their tools and took part in the demonstrations.

This slogan even echoed Lenin’s Bolshevik call, “Peace! Bread! Land!” which had stoked the fires of communist rebellion in Russia just months before. At the rally on November 3, workers from all over Kiel joined with the disgruntled sailors and marched towards the military prison to force the release of the mutineers held there.

The governor of the naval station, Admiral Wilhelm Souchon, had only been appointed on October 30. Being new to the position, he had difficulty knowing who to rely on to quash the mutiny. This played into the mutineers’ hands, and Souchon was forced to the negotiation table.

Soldiers sent to deal with the insurrection ended up joining them instead. They detained their own officers and formed workers’ councils, similar to the Soviet councils formed by the Bolsheviks.

By November 4, 40,000 soldiers and sailors were in firm control of Kiel. They drew up “fourteen points” that were presented to Souchon:

1. All inmates and political prisoners to be released.
2. Freedom of the press.
3. Abolition of mail censorship.
4. Crews to be treated appropriately.
5. Comrades returning from ships and to the barracks to be exempt from punishment.
6. The fleet cannot be launched under any circumstance.
7. Defensive measures that entail the possibility of bloodshed to be prevented at all costs.
8. All troops not belonging to the garrison are to be withdrawn.
9. The Soldiers’ Council is to immediately take measures to protect private property.
10. Military superiority is not to be recognized outside of duty.
11. Personal freedom for every man outside of duty.
12. Officers who agree with the provisions of the Soldiers’ Council are welcome in our midst.     Those who disagree must resign without provision.
13. All members of the Soldiers’ Council are to be released from any duty.
14. The consent of the Soldiers’ Council is to be sought regarding any future measures taken.

The following day, November 5, red flags flew over the ships in Kiel. In historical circles, it is debated whether the communist imagery and the heavy use of red in the protests were from a desire to establish communism or whether they were simply symbols of a broader desire of the workers and soldiers for more representation and freedom.

By this point, word of what was happening started spreading throughout the rest of Germany, with the 14 points forming the basis for their marches. Workers and civilians sympathizing with the cause began to take action, demanding an end to the war.

What had started as issues relevant to a band of unhappy sailors had spread across the Second Reich and turned into a major political movement that threatened to upturn the entire German societal order. The established nobility began to fear for their lives as they saw what was happening in Germany as being a possible copy of what had happened in Russia, wherein the Romanov family was assassinated less than four months earlier.

By November 7, the revolution reached Munich, and King Ludwig III of Bavaria fled the state after being forced to sign his abdication. In other German states, the same events would occur in the following days. By the end of the month, all 22 of Germany’s dynastic rulers had been dethroned. On November 9, Phillip Scheidemann declared Germany a republic from the balcony of the Reichstag. Wilhelm II fled the country and abdicated his throne. On November 11, an armistice was declared, and the First World War came to an end.

Although the SPD supported the workers in their endeavor, the party was staunchly opposed to sweeping changes such as those that had happened in Russia and was fearful that an all-out attack on the bourgeoisie and their property would lead to a civil war. As such, the SPD pushed for democratic reform, and the Weimar Republic eventually came into being upon the adoption of a new constitution in August 1919, effectively ending the revolution.

With a softer approach to the nobility than the Bolsheviks had taken, the German state stripped their nobles of privileges associated with noble titles but did not go on hunts to eradicate the German nobility. Today, the titles still exist as a matter of family heritage, and there is immense wealth in these families, but there is no legal distinction between “nobles” and other members of German society.

On the same day that the Kiel Mutiny reached its peak on November 4, the Austro-Hungarian Empire asked the Entente for an armistice, which was granted. It was clear that the situation in Germany was untenable. There was no way the country could continue the war, with its alliances crumbling and the specter of communism looming.

The Kiel Mutiny was an immensely important event. It served as the catalyst to a revolution that resulted in a change of German government and a definitive end to the First World War. The change it precipitated was realized in the formation of the Weimar Republic.

The state that was founded, however, would not last long. Weakened by economic collapse, democracy would give way to a new revolution in Germany, which would catapult Adolf Hitler to power.